Method of lasting the upper of footwear

ABSTRACT

A METHOD OF LASTING THE UPPER OF A BOOT OR SHOE USING A LASTING MACHINE HAVING A LAST CARRIED BY A MOVABLE SUPPORT, WIPERS AND GRIPPERS MOVABLE WITH RESPECT TO THE LAST. THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF THE LAST IS INITIALLY ARRANGED BELOW THE PLANE OF MOVEMENT OF THE WIPERS AND THE GRIPPERS ABOVE THIS PLANE. THE LAST SUPPORT AND GRIPPERS ARE MOVED IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY TO BRING THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF THAT LAST INTO SAID PLANE, AND THE WIPERS ARE MOVED TO ENGAGE THE LEATHER.

Dec. 14, 1971 HENR VON DEN BENKEN ETAL 3,626,533

METHOD OF LASTING THE UPPER OF FOOTWEAR Filed Jan. 7, 1970 iii United States Patent 3,626,533 METHOD OF LASTING THE UPPER OF FOOTWEAR Henry von den Benken, West Roxbury, Mass., and Herbert Klantke, Lemberg, Germany, assignors to Firma Eugen G. Henkel Maschinenfabrik, Nen-Isenburg, Germany, and Compo Industries, Inc., Waltham, Mass., fractional part interest to each Filed Jan. 7, 1970, Ser. No. 1,132 Claims priority, application Germany, Jan. 9, 1969, P 19 00 843.6 Int. Cl. A43d 21/00 US. Cl. 12-145 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of lasting the upper of a boot or shoe using a lasting machine having a last carried by a movable support, wipers and grippers movable with respect to the last. The bottom surface of the last is initially arranged below the plane of movement of the wipers and the grippers above this plane. The last support and grippers are moved in opposite directions simultaneously to bring the bottom surface of the last into said plane, and the wipers are moved to engage the leather.

The present invention relates to a method of lasting the upper of a boot or shoe.

Lasting machines are known which have a vertically movable support for the last on to which the upper material is drawn and vertically adjustable grippers for engaging the edge of the material and for the subsequent pulling it over the last. During the pulling-over of the upper, it is necessary to enlarge the spacing between the last bottom and the working ends of the grippers retaining the edge of the upper.

According to the present invention there is provided a method of lasting a boot or shoe upper using a lasting machine having a last mounted on a movable support, grippers movable with respect to the last support and wipers movable in a plane towards and away from said last, such method comprising positioning material to be lasted on said last, initially positioning at least a portion of the bottom surface of the last below the plane of movement of the wipers, locating the grippers above the plane, closing the grippers to grip the material, simultaneously displacing the last carrier and the grippers in opposite directions, so that the last bottom surface is located in the plane of movement of the wipers and the grippers are located below said plane and moving the wipers to engage the material.

In practice, it has been found that pulling-over of the upper by simultaneous displacement or vertical adjustment of the last support and the grippers results in the production of a more satisfactory pulled-over upper than is produced if the conventional method is used, in which in the pulling-over phase, either only the last support or only the grippers are moved. Since, according to the invention, both devices, ie the last support and the grippers, travel simultaneously in opposite directions and in this way pull-over the upper, there is required for the pulling-over of the upper only half the amount of time which is necessary with the known mode of operation in which either only the last carrier or 3,626,533 Patented Dec. 14, 1971 only the grippers are displaced. Further a much smaller lasting margin may be used, which saves a considerable amount of material.

Since leather, by its very character, cannot be pulledover uniformly everywhere, it may be advantageous to effect the displacement of the grippers in two stages, whereby the grippers are, in the first stage, moved together by means of a common drive by the same travel path, and, in the second stage, are moved independently of each other, by means of an individual drive associated with each gripper. A lasting machine having a device for the performance of the two-stage displacement is disclosed in United States application Ser. No. 730,081, now Pat. No. 3,523,317. In this case, the grippers associated with the front portion of the last are arranged on a common platform which, by means of an associated drive, is adapted to be displaced away from the last bottom and, where appropriate, also adjusted forwardly. Provided on the platform are also the individual drive devices associated with each gripper.

In order that the invention will be more fully understood, the following description is given, merely by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which each of the three figures is a schematic cross-section through a portion of a lasting machine showing three different stages of the method of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows the adjustment of the last support and of the grippers at the end of the first working phase and before the commencement of the first stage of the second working phase. The base or bottom surface 1 of the last 2 is disposed underneath and the working end of the grippers 4 is disposed above the working plane of the wipers 3, in which case ready insertion of the lasting margin of the upper into the grippers is possible even, when only a narrow lasting margin is available. The expression working plane of the wipers is, here, to be understood to mean that plane in which the end facing the last of the upper side of the wipers travels out of the starting position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 into the position shown in FIG. 3. In this position the wipers act on the edge of the upper 6 drawn on to the last 2 and projecting downwardly beyond the last bottom 1 and the insole 5 arranged thereon, and fold over the upper edge '6 on to the insole 5.

The last 2 is disposed on a support the pedestal 7 of which is secured on a piston rod 8 of a fluid actuated :piston and cylinder arrangement. Formed in the cylinder 9 of the arrangement is a slot 10, in which engages a pin 11 which is connected to the piston rod 8. In the adjusted position shownin FIG. 1, the pin 11 engages the lower end of the slot 10.

The grippers 4 for the pulling-over of the upper are constituted by two claws 12 and 12" adapted to travel towards and away from each other. In the embodiment shown, one claw 12 is stationary and the other claw 12" is arranged to pivot about the pivot 13. Cooperating with the claw 12" is a piston 15, adapted to be actedupon by a fluid medium, of a piston and cylinder arrangement accommodated in the carrier 14 associated with each gripper 4, the result of such cooperation being that the piston, on travelling out of the cylinder, pivots the claw 12" in the direction towards the further claw 12 and, in this way, closes the gripper mouth, whereby 3 the upper edge 6' inserted in the gripper mouth is clamped (FIG. 2).

The carriers 14 associated with the individual grippers 4 are disposed on the piston rod 15 of a piston and cylinder arrangement which, once again, is actuated by a fluid medium. Formed in the cylinder 16 of the said arrangement is, again, a slot 17 in which engages a pin 18 connected with the piston rod 15. In the adjusted position shown in FIG. 1, the pin 18 engages the upper end of the slot 17.

The carriers 14 for the grippers 4 and the piston and cylinder arrangements 15, 16 associated with the carriers are arranged on a common, vertically adjustable platform (not shown).

FIG. 2 shows the adjustment of the last support and of the grippers at the end of the first stage of the second working phase. With this arrangement, the edge or rim of the last bottom 1 is located in the working plane of the wipers 3, this being brought about by displacement of the last support 7, 8 from the position shown in FIG. 1 and in the upward direction. The working end of the grippers 4 is still located near the working plane of the wipers 3. This adjustment of the grippers is obtained by lowering the platform (not shown) carrying the gripper carriers 14. For this lowering of the grippers, therefore, the piston and cylinder arrangement 15, 16 has not yet been put into operation. When this operation takes place, the second stage of the second working phase is initiated. The adjustment of the last support 7, 8 and of the grippers 4 at the end of the second stage of the second working phase is shown in FIG. 3. The adjustment, at the end of the first stage of the second working phase (FIG. 2), of the last carrier has not changed during the second stage of the second working phase. The grippers 4, on the other hand, have been displaced further downwardly, so that their working end is clearly spaced apart from the working plane of the wipers 3. In order to achieve this adjustment of the grippers, the piston rod 15 of the piston and cylinder arrangement 15, 16 has been displaced downwardly out of the position shown in FIG. 2.

The design and mode of operation of the piston and cylinder arrangements on the lasting machine for the performance of the method according to the invention are adequately known, so that it will be unnecessary to deal further with these points.

We claim:

1. A method of pulling over of the upper of footwear, using a lasting machine, having a last, a bottom surface to said last, a movable carrier for said last, grippers movable with respect to said last and wipers movable in a plane towards and away from said last, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) positioning material to be lasted on said last;

(b) initially locating at least the central portion of the bottom surface of said last below said plane of movement of said wipers;

(c) locating the grippers above said plane;

(d) closing said grippers effective to grip said material;

(e) simultaneously displacing said last carrier and said grippers in opposite directions, whereby the margin of said last bottom surface is located in the plane of movement of said wipers and the grippers are located below said plane; and

(f) moving said wipers to engage said material.

2. The method defined in claim 1, wherein said grippers are displaced in two stages, wherein in the first stage all of the grippers are displaced together and wherein in the second stage the grippers are displaced individually by appropriate amounts.

3. The method defined in claim 2, wherein the displacement of the last carrier is completed during the first stage of displacement of the grippers.

4. The method defined in claim 1, wherein the whole of the bottom surface of the last is initially below said plane of movement of said wipers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,087,177 4/1963 Vornberger 12145 3,251,081 5/1966 Springer 1210.1 3,399,411 9/1968 Fisk 1210.1

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 12--10.5 

